Patrick Arnold was found dead on the front porch of his home in Newport. He died of a single gunshot wound.

The two were neighbors and prosecutor's say Stevens often went to Arnold's home when Arnold was away.

According to Stevens, the two had a physical argument, Arnold's rifle went off and Stevens ran. He then hid the rifle.

Stevens previously pleaded not guilty due to insanity to murder charges.That plea was been withdrawn.

"But we felt from the evidence we had, even if we had a lengthy trial, the jury would end up finding two things. That there was an accidental death caused by a firearm and that the firearm was disposed of by the person who did the shooting, Mr. Stevens. That's the tampering with evidence charge. So in that sense I'm happy with the result," says Washington County Prosecuting Attorney James Schneider.

Stevens could face up to three and a half years in jail. He's still being held on $500,000 bond.

Sentencing is set for Monday, July 22nd at 11 a.m. ___________________________________________________________

UPDATE: 1/25/13

Mark Stevens was indicted in August of last year-- charged with murder and tampering of evidence.

Prosecutors say Stevens killed Patrick Arnold in July of 2008.

After being found competent to stand trial Stevens' trial is set.

April 28, the three week trial is expected to happen.

The original date was set for January 28, this coming Monday, but the Defense asked for a continuance.

A special grand jury is held indicting a man accused of murder in a 2008 cold case, defense attorney files for incompetency.

Washington County Prosecutors say Mark Stevens killed Patrick Arnold in July of 2008.

Prosecutor Jim Schneider says a gun shot was heard around 3:45 p.m. on July 23 but the Arnold's body was not reported until the next day, July 24.

Schneider says Stevens had a gun shot wound to the chest consistent with being shot at a very close range.

He says Stevens made different statements over the last three months, both to recorded audio through an informant and to investigators during questioning.

"And sometimes he says he went down there with a gun of his own and shot Mr. Arnold when he got home from work and others he's saying he struggled. He went down to talk to him, Arnold got mad at him, because they never got along anyway, Arnold had thrown Stevens off the property a couple of different times, beyond that it's all conjectural," says Schneider.

Schneider says Arnold did have one shot gun that he often kept by the door. He says that shot gun is now missing.

Schneider says the murder weapon, possibly Arnold's own shot gun, has not yet been found.

"At one point says there was an argument and they wrestled over the gun and he got the gun," explains Schneider. "Well at first he said we were wrestling over the gun, meaning Pat Arnold's gun, and then the gun just went off, well they talked to him further he finally acknowledged that he had gotten it away from Mr. Arnold is what he says."

Stevens appeared in Judge Susan Boyer's courtroom August 9th for a first hearing.

Schneider says Judge Boyer told the court there was a conflict of interest, handing the rest of Stevens' court appearances to Judge Ed Lane. Prosecutor Schneider would not go into further detail about the conflict of interest.

Stevens' lawyer, Attorney Ray Smith, did agree to still hold the hearing in Judge Boyer's courtroom for the bond hearing. Attorney Smith filed for Incompetency.

Judge Boyer called for a mental evaluation, which could take one to two months.

Stevens bond continues at half a million dollars.

Stevens is charged with murder and tampering with evidence.

Arraignment date is set for August 16.

UPDATE: 8/4/2012 4:47PM

A cold case breaks wide open this week. Patrick Arnold's family was starting to lose hope, but they may finally have some closure.

"I wasn't taking it very well. Yes its been very difficult. I'm just so glad that hopefully everything works out," says Arnold's sister Becky Klintworth.

After four years of devastating sadness the Arnold family finally has something to smile about. Patrick Arnold was shot and killed in 2008.The case went cold and this family has been dealing with the loss every since.

"It was very devastating. My brother and I were very close because we were close in age and we could talk a lot. I felt like I lost my best friend along with a family member," says Klintworth.

On August 1st there was a break in the case when a confidential informant provided detectives with information linking Mark Stevens to the murder. Investigators with the Washington County Sheriff's Office arrested 48 year old Stevens.

He was Arnold's neighbor at the time of the murder, and later admitted to being there at the time of the murder during questioning.

"I could just never imagine why someone would want to kill him. So it's been very difficult for my family and I to understand why someone had to go that far. And I never thought this day would come where they would tell us that they got the killer. So it's been a shock because I gave up about a month ago," says Klintworth.

Becky says she just wants to know why, but doesn't know if she'll ever get the answer.

"He doesn't realize what he took away from our family. You know what was a very caring person, a very loving person and giving of course. Because he gave people money that he probably shouldn't have done but he's always going to be missed," says Klintworth.

The unexpected phone call of Stevens' arrest revived the family's hope when many had started to give up.

Stevens is being held on bond for half a million dollars. Becky says she wants to thank all the investigators and volunteers who helped bring her brother's killer to justice.______________________________________________________

UPDATE:A four year murder investigation leads to an arrest.

"We discovered that Patrick Arnold had been shot one time in the chest," Sheriff Larry Mincks explains events of June 24, 2008 when 42 year old Patrick Arnold was found dead at his home.

Now, four years later Mark Stevens, is arrested for the murder of Arnold.

Everything changed when investigators went down a list, interviewing more people about the case. One person stuck out to investigators.

"That person was able to tell us information he had received from Mark Stevens and it was some detailed information that only the shooter should know," explains Washington County Sheriff's Office detective Jeff Seevers.

Investigators then used a recording device to record conversation between the informant and Stephens.

"Through that course of investigation," continues Seevers, "several pieces of evidence, we were able to record a lot of details in that conversation that we could relate and relate back to our crime scene."

After gathering the evidence, investigators made their way to Stephens' home to question him again about that day four years ago.

"Through the course of that interview, basically he confessed to being at the residence when Mr. Pat Arnold was shot and he gave us other information about the shooting, but I don't really want to go into detail about that at this moment." explains Seevers.

When WTAP asked Seevers, "You said he confessed to being at the residence, did he confess to the shooting?"

Seevers replied "Yeah but I'm not going to say exactly what the circumstances was, but I will say there was some sort of struggle and that's all the further I'm going to comment."

Stevens also led investigators to Arnold's yard where he says more evidence is buried.

Investigators are not yet releasing a possible motive.

Stevens is currently being held at the Washington County Jail charged with murder.

UPDATE: 08/01/2012

The Washington County Sheriff's Office arrests Mark Stevens for the 2008 murder of Patrick Arnold.

The arrest was made after a 4 year investigation.

Investigators say when going through a list of interviews, one person was able to provide details linking 48 year old Stevens to the murder of Arnold.

Through that confidential informant, detectives were able to record conversation in which Stevens talked about specific details about the crime.

Washington Co. Sheriff Office says during an interview with detectives, Stephens admitted to the murder and provided details about the crime that only the killer would know.

Investigators have not yet released a motive.

Stevens is currently in the Washington County Jail facing a charge of murder.

Stay tuned to WTAP-TV and WTAP.COM for details as they become available.

UPDATE: August 1, 2012

A possible break in the Patrick Arnold murder case. WTAP will carry LIVE news conference.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office has scheduled at 4:30 news conference to discuss an arrest made in the July 2008 murder of Patrick Arnold.

WTAP plans to air that news conference live on our web channel WTAP.com.

There are no other details available at this time.

______________________________________________________

UPDATE: October, 3 2008Washington County officials say they have several persons of interest in a July homicide case.

Authorities found 42 year old Patrick Arnold dead in his Bells Run home on July 24.

They say he was killed by a gun shot wound to the chest.

Sheriff Larry Mincks says forensic evidence has led them to a group he believes was involved in the crime.

The Sheriff's Office is urging anyone with any information to come forward.

There is now a $10,000 reward.

You can contact the Sheriff's tip line at (740) 373-1023.

______________________________________________________UPDATE: July 30, 2008The Washington County Sheriff's Department is still searching for clues surrounding shooting death of Patrick Arnold.

Sheriff Larry Mincks has now placed eight members of the department on the most recent homicide case out of the county.

Authorities say Arnold died from a gunshot wound to the chest last week at his home on Bells Run Road.

Mincks says as of right now, they do not have a suspect but still have several interviews left to conduct.

The department is also waiting for forensic evidence results that were taken from the crime scene.

______________________________________________________

It's been three days since Washington County Sheriff detectives found Patrick Arnold dead in his Newport home but there's still hardly any information as to what happened. So crews took to the streets looking for any evidence Sunday.

Nearly twenty-five members of the Washington County Sheriff's Office, and Newport, Lower Salem, and Devola Volunteer Fire Departments searched a three mile radius from Arnold's home on Bells Run Road.

Sheriff Larry Mincks said they were out on foot looking for any items like a cell phone, clothing, or guns a suspect would've thrown out.

No evidence was recovered.

So now officials are waiting on results from forensic evidence the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification of London, Ohio is analyzing.

Sheriff Mincks expects to get the results in the next five to ten days.

Sheriff Mincks said Arnold died from a gunshot wound and autopsy results confirmed he was shot in the chest.______________________________________________________UPDATE: July 28, 2008

It's been three days since Washington County Sheriff detectives found Patrick Arnold dead in his Newport home but there's still hardly any information as to what happened. So crews took to the streets looking for any evidence Sunday.

Nearly twenty-five members of the Washington County Sheriff's Office, and Newport, Lower Salem, and Devola Volunteer Fire Departments searched a three mile radius from Arnold's home on Bells Run Road.

Sheriff Larry Mincks said they were out on foot looking for any items like a cell phone, clothing, or guns a suspect would've thrown out.

No evidence was recovered.

So now officials are waiting on results from forensic evidence the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification of London, Ohio is analyzing.

Sheriff Mincks expects to get the results in the next five to ten days.

Sheriff Mincks said Arnold died from a gunshot wound and autopsy results confirmed he was shot in the chest.______________________________________________________UPDATE: July 28, 2008

Washington County Sheriff investigators continue to look for clues Saturday in the death of Patrick Arnold.

Sheriff Larry Mincks said detectives found 42-year-old, Patrick Arnold, dead in his Bells Run home in Newport Thursday afternoon.

Sheriff Mincks said he died from a gunshot wound and autopsy results confirm he was shot in the chest.

Officials are still looking for people who've had any contact with Arnold Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning.

If you did but haven't spoken with investigators yet, you're asked to call the sheriff's office at 740- 376-7070.

______________________________________________________UPDATE: July 24, 2008The search continues for a suspect in Thursday's shooting death of a Washington County man.

Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks says detectives found 42 year old Patrick Arnold dead in his Bells Run home in Newport early Thursday evening.

Mincks says Arnold died from a gunshot wound.

The Sheriff's Department and the Bureau of Criminal Investigation are examining the crime.

Arnold's body has been sent to Montgomery County for an autopsy.

Detectives are interviewing various people. As of 11:00 am Friday, no arrest had been made.

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